USRE2283E - Improvement in pipe-tongs - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES ALLEN BEACH, OF BOSTON, MASS., ASSIGNEE OF HENRY H. GILMORE.

IMPROVEMENT IN PIPE-TONGS Specilication forming part of Letters Patent No. 19,842, dated April 6, 1358; Reissue N0. 2,283, dated .l une 12, 1866.

` To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that HENRY H.. G1LMoRE,for merly ot' the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, but now of Medford, in Middlesex county, in said Sta-te, invented an Improvement in Adjustable Pipe- Tongs; and I, ALLEN BEACH, ot' said Boston, f

The nature of the invention consists in slotting that portion of one of the parts of' an ordinary pair ot pipe-tongs through which the uniting-pivot passes, so that the distance between the griping vparts of the jaws may be varied by chan gin g the position ot' the slotted part ofthe tongs in relation to the pivot, thereby changing thc relative positions ofthe hooked and straightjaws; also,in thcdescribed lnethod, or its equivalent, whereby the slotted part of the tongs is so clamped to the pivot that the strain consequent upon the use of the tongs shall not separate the jaws by slipping` the pivot in the slotted jaw.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use said invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

Figure 1 is a side view of a pair of pipe-tongs constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a front View of the same, and Fig. 3 is a detail, showing the slot and pivot in the hooked jaw.

The hooked jaw A and straight jaw B are constructed in the parts where the pipe is grasped in the usual well-known manner, and therefore need no description here; but the part of A through which the pivot a passes is slotted and increased in size to compensate for the strength lost by the slot. The pivot a is secured in B, so that it can turn therein, or so thatwben a is prevented from turning B can move about a as a center. on a supports A, which is clamped between b and the washer o by the nut d. a is attened where it passes through the slot in A (see Fig. 3) to prevent the pivot from turning therein. Theinclined plane c forms part otA, or is xed to it. The washer c under the nut el is also an inclined plane. A projection on the under side of o lits the sides ot' the groove in A and prevents the washer from turning with the nut.

It will be obvious from inspection of the drawings that any strain which tends to sepa` rate the two parts ofthe tongs in the direction of their length or to increase the distance between m x, surfaces of A, and the steeled edge z ot' B, must cause the inclined plane of c to move on the inclined plane e, increasing the distance between the upper surface of the collar b and the lower surface of the nut. This cannot be done without stretching or breaking the pivot a by direct tensile strain.

The tongs constructed as just described may be set to any desired distance between .t and z within the range of the instrument.

A substitute for the inclined planes above described may be made by forming teeth or indentations on the upper surface of A and the lower surface ot' the washer c, the inclined planes beingl dispensed with. These teeth would be kept interloeked by the nut d. To set the instrument it would be necessary to slack the nut and adjust the position of the jaws before tightening it. lt is evident that the distance ot'x x from z cannot thus be varied by a less amount than the distance ot' teeth apart, and that the strain which tends to separate a' :v and e in this construction would exert no tensile strain on the pivot, but would be exerted on the teeth or indentations described.

This invention relates only to that class ofim plements in which the holding-jaws are forced upon and obtain their gripe on cylindrical bodies by the grasp of the hand on two levers, as in smiths tongs, in contradistinction to wrenches, which have butone lever or handle, and which do not obtain their hold on pipes or similar objects by the grasp from the hand of the operator.

Having described said invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by,

Letters Patent of the United States, is-

The collar b formedl 1. Constructing either member of a pair of planes, or the equivalent thereof, with the pipe-tongs with a slot or its equivalent, so that slotted jar, for the purpose described.

by the relative adjustment of the jaw and pivot ALLAN BEACH,

the gripe of the tongs can be accommodated Sole Assignee of H. H. Gilmore. to various sizes of pipes, substantially as here- Witnesses in described. J. B. CROSBY,

2. The combinationiof an inclined plane or J E. FALLON.

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